French cinema legend Gérard Depardieu was found guilty of indecent touching of two women during the filming of Les Volets Verts (Green Shutters) in Paris in 2021.
He was sentenced to 18 months of suspended prison sentence.
During the trial, it was determined that one of the women, a set designer named Amelie, gave credible testimony, while the actor’s statements changed over time.
Depardieu (76) was also convicted of assaulting another woman, Sarah, the director’s assistant.
The actor previously denied the charges, and his lawyer announced an appeal against the verdict.
One of the prosecutors told reporters that she was “very moved” and pleased with the verdict, which she considers a “victory.”
Depardieu was not in the courtroom when the verdict was pronounced, as he is filming a film in the Azores.
“It’s perfectly possible to be a great actor and a great father and still commit a crime.”
“You are not here to condemn French cinema.”
“You are here to judge Gérard Depardieu, just like any other citizen,” prosecutor Laurent Guy said in his closing arguments on March 27.
Karin Durije-Diebo, one of the prosecutors’ lawyers, said she hoped the verdict would “mark the end of impunity for artists in the film industry.”
“This is a victory for two women in the film industry, but also a victory for all women… I’m thinking of all the other victims of Depardieu,” she told reporters.
The judge said there was no reason to doubt the words of the two female victims, who told how Depardieu touched them in their private parts, using inappropriate language.
As prosecutors requested, Depardieu was placed on the list of registered sex offenders and ordered to pay €1,000 in damages to both Amélie and Sarah for “secondary victimization” – a recently introduced measure to compensate women who suffer during such trials.
Jeremy Asus, Depardieu’s lawyer, accused these women of lying during the trial.
What was said during the trial?
Claude Vincent, the lawyer for one of the two women who sued the actor, described Depardieu as “misogynistic” and a “case study in sexism.”
In Depardieu’s defense, his lawyer Jeremy Asso sought an acquittal and said the prosecution team was “more militant than lawyerly.”
“They can’t stand that there should be a defense at all. They think that every defense is an additional attack,” he told the court.
The alleged attacks occurred in September 2021 when Depardieu was filming the film Les Volets Verts (Green Shutters), about an aging actor who has come to terms with the fact that he is on the verge of death and is no longer at his full strength.
It was the first time the actor had appeared in court on charges of sexual assault.
Several other women have made similar allegations against him in the media, and the alleged rape case could lead to another legal case against Depardieu.
The first plaintiff, 54-year-old set designer Amelie, told the court that after an argument, Depardieu grabbed her between her legs and held her hips.
Another woman, 34-year-old assistant director Sara, said the actor touched her buttocks and breasts through her clothes three times.
Depardieu denied the allegations, saying only that he may have accidentally touched the women or held on to them to keep from falling.
“My name is dragged through the mud and I am showered with insults.”
“This trial is a special experience for me. Watching all this anger, the police, the media.”
“It’s like I’m in a science fiction movie, except this isn’t science fiction. This is life,” Depardieu said at the end of the trial.
The actor thanked the prosecutors and defense for, he said, allowing him to learn how the courts work.
“Maybe these lessons will help me as inspiration if I play a lawyer one day,” he said.
Depardieu said he had not worked for three years since sexual allegations against him began to emerge.
However, earlier this month it was announced that he had begun working in the Azores on a film directed by his friend, actress Fanny Ardant.
Depardieu plays a magician on a mysterious island, media reports.
Ardan stars with Depardieu in the film Les Volets Verts , and she spoke in his defense at the trial.
“Genius, in whatever form it takes, carries within it elements of the extravagant, the untamed, the dangerous. [Depardieu] is both a monster and a saint,” she says.
Another veteran French actress has sided with Depardieu.
In a rare interview with French television, 90-year-old Brigitte Bardot (90) expressed regret that “talented people who touch a girl’s butt are put in the deepest dungeon.”
“I’m not into feminism. I love men,” Bardo said.
